Northern Forest Park

Easy (Newberry to BPA Rd)

5.7-mile loop

450 feet elevation gain

Open all year


Moderate (Germantown to Fire Lane 7a)

8.3-mile loop

400 feet elevation gain

Forest Park is Portland’s wilderness secret, where the 30.2-mile Wildwood Trail contours through 5172 acres of soothing woodlands along a scenic ridge above the Willamette River. When development threatened a 73-acre private inholding in the park’s northern corner in 1999, a “Fix the Hole” campaign rallied donors to buy the property for the city. Today the Wildwood Trail extends through this addition, a place so tranquil that the noisiest characters are squirrels scolding you from trees as you hike by.

The first loop recommended here follows the …

If you’d like more loop options, try …

This chapter taken from the book 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington.